


The Grand Tour (Alternate POV)

by JessicaLynne



Category: Mary Russell - Laurie R. King
Genre: Alternate POV, Chance Meetings, F/M, Locked Rooms, Russell's Parents - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-24 19:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22263397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaLynne/pseuds/JessicaLynne
Summary: "The Grand Tour" from Judith Klein's (Russell's mother's) point of view.(Originally posted on Letters of Mary on Yahoo Groups. Read "The Grand Tour" to get some context, so this will make some sort of sense.)
Relationships: Charles Russell/Judith Klein
Kudos: 2





	The Grand Tour (Alternate POV)

London, 1897

"Mother?"

"Yes, Judith?"

"Have you seen those new shoes I bought yesterday? I can't seem to find them."

"They're not in the mudroom then? Go check your bedroom closet. What's the big deal with these shoes anyway? Where are you going?"

"I want to break them in, and I know just the way to do that. There's a new display from the Holy Land at the British Museum, I would like to go and see it."

"Well, go check your closet. L-rd knows how you are able to find anything in there anyhow...."

"I have my own system of organization, Mother. Don't fret over it."

Walking up the stairs to her bedroom, Judith Klein was frustrated. She had looked everywhere in the house for those shoes. Setting her hat on the bedside table she started looking through her small closet. She found the shoes sitting off to the right side, near the back. Sitting on her bed she laced them on. Grabbing her hat and purse she headed back downstairs and out the front door, calling to her mother that she would be back in a few hours and not to wait up for her for lunch. 

********

The shoes had been a total splurge. After saving up a few shillings, she had bought them from the cobbler down the street. What she hadn't counted on was how badly they would pinch her feet as she walked down the cobblestone streets. Her feet were already aching by the time she climbed the steps to the museum.

********

The display was beautiful. Some ancient pottery and sculptures had been found near Jericho by one DE Ruskin. As Judith continued to look over the display, a slim blond gentleman (tall as she was, and handsome, too, come to think of it) walked past her and into another room. Turning away from the display, she started to walk around and look at the other displays that were in the museum. As she passed the Roman antiquities, she gave no thought to the Wet Floor sign the charwoman had left behind, and immediately began to regret it as she felt her shoes lose traction on the floor! Letting out a startled scream, she wound up collapsing in a pitiful heap! Embarrassed, she was wondering what to do when she saw the same gentleman from earlier running towards her. Reassuring him she was all right as he helped her up from the floor (Charles Russell was his name, he was an American), she started rambling on about her shoes and realized she was making a total idiot of herself, so she shut up.

Then Mr Russell did something that completely shocked her even more than the fall--he invited her, a total stranger, out to lunch with him! Hesitantly accepting, not expecting that at all, she recommended some restaurants that she remembered were close by. He asked her to "lead the way, then". As they walked out of the museum, falling into easy conversation, a single lone honeybee (in London, of all places!) circled over their heads and flew off into the distance. By the time they walked through the door at Simpson's she felt she had known him her whole life.....


End file.
